Georgia’s ruling party official accuses German Ambassador of overstepping diplomatic authority

Levan Machavariani, the First Deputy Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party faction in the legislative body, on Saturday claimed that Peter Fischer, the German Ambassador to the country, was interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs and even encroaching on the responsibilities of the EU Ambassador Paweł Herczyński, following Fischer’s recent comments about the status of Georgia’s EU enlargement file.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Machavariani noted that Fischer’s remarks were not only intrusive in terms of domestic political discourse but also bypassed the authority of EU Ambassador Paweł Herczyński, who is formally responsible for communications on EU matters in Georgia.

“It is, unfortunately, already impossible to make any serious comment about the German Ambassador. He is interfering not only in Georgia’s internal affairs, but directly in the competence of the EU Ambassador, Mr. Herczyński. He makes certain assessments for which he has absolutely no authority”, he said.

The official further argued that certain European actors were deliberately attempting to keep Georgian society in a state of tension ahead of the December European Council summit.

“They are not sparing effort and are constantly keeping Georgia in a mode of artificial agitation. This [visa liberalisation] is the last bullet in the chamber of their blackmail mechanism, and I don’t think they will use this bullet, because they are not confident that their support base - wealthy NGOs and the radical opposition - will be able to carry out a revolution in Georgia”, Machavariani concluded.